Need suggestions with garage studio.

sjaguar13 · Post by **sjaguar13** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 5:23 am

A couple years ago, my brother and I got some drums. We built a sound proof room in our garage. It's not totally sound proof, but when someone plays the drums inside, you have to walk up really close to hear them. Next to that, we were going to build a bathroom, so we didn't have to keep on going inside. We never finished the bathroom. All it is, is the studs. The drum room has dry wall and everything up, but since then, we used it as a closet. I'm getting sick of on location recording. Thursday, we got to record this demo for a band who's trying to get a really good gig. We get to the guy's house and everything is falling apart. As I carry in my stuff, on person says, "Watch out for the beer bottles and dead cats." I thought about turning the rooms in my garage into a studio, so they can just come to me.

It's a 6 car garage (3 cars long, two deep). In the back left corner is the "bathroom". It's 8' long, 7' wide, 8' high. Next to that is the drum room. It's 11' long, 7' wide, and 8' high.

I thought about putting the control room in the corner "bathroom", and using the drum room as either the droom room, or a vocal room. I thought about using the rest of the garage as the live room. You're challenge (actually, my challenge) if you choose to accept it, I need to make the rooms sound better without it costing a lot, but since I'm still at home with my parents, I need something that isn't permanent. I would like something that when the band comes over, I can move out my cars maybe throw down some carpet or something and record, then clean it back up and put the cars back inside.

Also, here's another possibility, drums at the far end of the garage, guitars closer to the control room, and vocals in the drum room, if the band wants to do everything together. How about, drums in drum room, guitars in garage, and I build a ply wood/foam vocal booth? I don't really know.

Anyone got some suggestions?

giles117 · Post by **giles117** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 5:42 am

Draw a diagram of what you are thinking of doing. And post it here.

Bryan Giles

knightfly · Post by **knightfly** » Mon Oct 13, 2003 7:05 am

Keep in mind, while you're drawing/tearing your hair out, that there is no AFFORDABLE, much less TEMPORARY, way to be able to move cars in and out AND make that area even close to soundproof. The two are not available simultaneously, short of getting yourself adopted by Bill Gates and being really nice to him... Steve

sjaguar13 · Post by **sjaguar13** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 1:25 am

This is what I got. I don't really want to build anything else (except maybe a vocal booth). I just want to make what I have sound a little better. I'm not looking for high quality, just something that works. We've been recording demos and CDs for $50 and $100. Stuff like rolling carpet on the concrete floor and hanging up some blankets is good enough with me.

giles117 · Post by **giles117** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 1:38 am

My Only suggestion is to finish the bathroom off with drywall and insulation in the walls to calm it down (soundproofing) a bit and use Johns portable treatments. These are extremely small spaces. Use it as a vocal booth and the 11x7 space as a control room.

Possibly walk the garage and find the least reverberant spot in there and set the drums up there and record. (While parking the cars in the Motor Court)

Bought as temporary and parent friendly of a design I can suggest.

Not sure how the roof on the garage is, but if it is pitched possibly put some clouds and Bass trap hangers up there to help calm the reverb down a bit. This is as cheap as I can suggest.

sjaguar13 · Post by **sjaguar13** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 1:48 am

8' x 7' is too small for the control room? If the drums are in the garage, too, should I put anything inbetween them and the other instruments? The roof is pitched, but there is insullation put up, so it's flat. Anything I should to the floor?

giles117 · Post by **giles117** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 1:53 am

Having done many a live recording, we used the ClearSonics panels around the drum kit and strategically placed the other instruments. For your purposes, some gobo's will be cool. There will always be some bleed unless the drums were in their own booth. But the bleed is always manageable unless you needed a dead quiet sound for everythng else. That is the sheer joy of a live recording. thank God for noise gates and over easy expanders.

Yes a larger control room will be much better.

Oh Ok, so you have a flat ceiling up there with insulationon the other side? Is the ht of the garage floor to ceiling 8'?

Bryan Giles

sjaguar13 · Post by **sjaguar13** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 1:55 am

Yeah, the height of the ceiling is 8'. The ceiling is just insulation, nothing covers that up. Is the portable treatments the same as the wall units on the homepage? If it is, then would I add those to the garage and the the vocal room?

giles117 · Post by **giles117** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 2:02 am

Yes they are the same. Definitely the control room. And if you can do them in the garage, that would be excellent.

Just look around for some live room plans on where and how to place them. (what angles and where) With the ceiling being so low and this being your parents garage, I don't recommend fooling with it.

matter of fact here is a good idea of angle distribution you can adapt for your garage... Note the live studio area.

<img src= "http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/files/plan1_422.jpg" /img>

Hope this helps. Bryan Giles

sjaguar13 · Post by **sjaguar13** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 2:07 am

I should treat every room, but the vocal room? Would I still need something on the wall with the shelves, or would they diffuse the sound on their own? Would I need anything over the garage doors?

giles117 · Post by **giles117** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 2:13 am

All rooms should ideally be treated, especially a vocal booth. Place them as you see fit (hence the diagram to give you some ideas and direction.) The shelves may act as a diffusser dependingon what's on them.

There are many ways to go, these are some guidelines for you. Go forth and conquer.

Bryan Giles

Make sure you read the SAE sight and have the basics in your head. Then you can expand from that foundation to fit what you are doing.

http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html

sjaguar13 · Post by **sjaguar13** » Tue Oct 14, 2003 2:18 am

Ok, thanks. Now all I need to do is clean up the rooms and start on some wall units.